Provenance
Main altar of the church of Santa Lucia de' Magnoli, Florence, probably until the early 18th century.[1] Sacristy of the same church, by 1728.[2] Third altar on the right of the nave of the same church, by 1762 and probably until the early 1800s.[3] Possibly Osvald Sirén [1879-1977], Stockholm; purchased 6 May 1921 by (Julius Böhler, Munich);[4] sold 17 September 1921 to (Count Alessandro Contini Bonacossi, Rome and Florence);[5] purchased December 1933 by the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, New York;[6] gift 1939 to NGA.
[1] The altarpiece is cited as being on the main altar (erroneously, as a work of Andrea del Castagno) by Giovanni Cinelli in Francesco Bocchi, _Le bellezze della città di Firenze_, ed. Giovanni Cinelli, Florence, 1677 (originally 1591): 280, reprinted Bologna, 1973. It was probably moved on the occasion of restoration work done in the church between 1712 and 1715 (see W. and E. Paatz, _Die Kirchen von Florenz_, Frankfurt am Main, 1941: 2:607).
[2] Cited as being there by Filippo Baldinucci, _Notizie dei professori del disegno da Cimbaue in qua_, ed. F. Ranalli, 5 vols., Florence, 1845-1847 (originally 6 vols., 1681-1728): 3:95 n. 1.
[3] The altarpiece was described there by both Giuseppe Richa, _Notizie istoriche della chiese fiorentine)_, 10 vols., Florence, 1754-1762: 10(1762): 294, and Vincenzo Follini and Modesto Rastrelli, _Firenze antica e moderna_, 8 vols., Florence, 1789-1802: 8(1801):254). Among early writers, Luigi Lanzi (_Storia pittorica della Italia_, 3 vols., Bassano, 1795-1796: 1(1975):58) is the only one who mentions the predella, which at that time must still have been attached to the main panel. The fact that in 1827 the usually careful Rumohr, the first to read and transcribe the signature of Domenico Veneziano on the altarpiece, did not mention the predella, leads one to suppose that by this date it was no longer in the church. See Carl Friedrich von Rumohr, _Italienische Forschungen_, 3 vols., ed. by J. von Schlosser, Frankfurt am Main, 1920 (originally Berlin, 1827-1831): 387. In fact, Rumohr presumably saw the panel during his second stay in Italy, between 1816 and 1820. (See E. Sigismund, "R.C.F. Freiherr von Rumohr," in Ulrich Thieme, Felix Becker, and Hans Vollmer, _Allgemeines Lexikon der bildenden Künstler von der Antike bis zur Gegenwart_, 37 vols. Leipzig, 1907-1950: 29[1935]:202, reprinted 1970-1971.)
[4] According to the Getty Provenance Index, the NGA painting is probably the same painting as a "Picture of Two Saints. Stigmatizing of St. Francis in a hilly mountain landscape," listed in the Böhler records as acquired from Sirén on that date. Roberto Longhi ("Un frammento della pala di Domenico Veneziano per Santa Lucia de'Magnole," _L'Arte_ 28 [1925]: 31-35, reprinted in _Edizione delle opera complete di Roberto Longhi_, 14 vols., Florence and Milan, 1956-2000: 2[1967]) and other writers of the 1920s indicate the painting as belonging to Böhler. It was presumably also for Böhler that Georg Gronau wrote his expertise, dated 10 August 1921 (copy in NGA curatorial files), recognizing the authorship of Domenico Veneziano.
[5] A. Chiapelli, "Una nuova opera di Domenico Veneziano," _L'Arte_ 27 (1924): 93 note 6, is wrong in stating that the panel was "recently acquired by Longhi in Germany"; Longhi himself (1925: 31) states clearly that the purchaser was, on his advice, Count Contini Bonacossi. Contini lent the picture to the 1930 exhibition in London.
[6] The bill of sale for the painting is dated 27 December 1933 (copy in NGA curatorial files). See also The Kress Collection Digital Archive, https://kress.nga.gov/Detail/objects/1819.
Accession Number
1939.1.140
Medium
tempera on poplar panel
Dimensions
overall: 27.5 x 30.5 cm (10 13/16 x 12 in.) | framed: 40.6 x 44.5 x 5.1 cm (16 x 17 1/2 x 2 in.)
Classification
Painting
Credit Line
Samuel H. Kress Collection
Tags
Painting Renaissance (1400–1599) Tempera Panel Painting Italian
Background & Context
Background Story
Domenico Veneziano (c. 1410-1461) was a Florentine painter of the early Renaissance known for his mastery of color and his adoption of the new science of linear perspective. Saint Francis Receiving the Stigmata from c. 1445-50 depicts the miraculous event in which Saint Francis of Assisi received the wounds of Christ on Mount La Verna, rendered in the tempera on panel medium that was standard for Florentine painting before the widespread adoption of oil. Domenico's treatment combines the narrative clarity of early Renaissance painting with the coloristic subtlety and compositional rigor that distinguish his work from the more austere paintings of his Florentine contemporaries.
Cultural Impact
Domenico Veneziano's Saint Francis is important in the history of early Renaissance painting because it demonstrates the combination of narrative clarity and coloristic subtlety that distinguishes Domenico's work from the more austere paintings of his Florentine contemporaries. The stigmata subject—the miraculous imprinting of Christ's wounds on Francis's body—is rendered with the clarity and precision that early Renaissance painting demanded, but Domenico's color and compositional rigor give the narrative an elegance that transcends mere devotional illustration.
Why It Matters
Saint Francis Receiving the Stigmata is Domenico Veneziano combining narrative clarity with coloristic subtlety: the miraculous event rendered with the precision of early Renaissance painting but infused with the elegant color and compositional rigor that distinguish his work from more austere Florentine contemporaries. The tempera on panel medium preserves the clarity of early Renaissance devotional painting.
